The Chilean Miners

You have to admit whichever way you look at it; the SKY coverage of the rescue of the trapped Chilean Miners, was a triumph of Television News reporting.

The Weekend Miler

Well I managed to swim a mile yet again this weekend. 72 lengths of the pool that I use is a mile, and I exhausted myself with 52 lengths on Saturday and another 24 lengths on Sunday. The downside being that I only managed to clean and wax one of the cars today, complete a shed load of important paperwork, and get to town for a coffee and a stroll with one of my daughters. Not the most productive day ever physically, but I had to rest those arm muscles.

Hollywood

Yeah, great stuff! The Blog has had its first visitor from Hollywood, well North Hollywood to be precise. Now there have been a fair few new visitors from towns and cities throughout the UK; but that pales into insignificance compared to a Hollywood Blog reader. I wonder if it's one of the stars?

Project Management

It's now 11.23pm or so (GMT) and the 27th Miner has been rescued. I watched the Apprentice earlier this evening. It's a brilliant programme, but on this occasion it's not as good TV as the San Jose Mine rescue. The Apprentices bitch and whinge as their shortfalls are exposed. They seek £100K+ employment, and based on the TV coverage, some of the group aren't worthy of a £20K post. It really is a dire assortment of talent (sic) in this series. The girl leading the boys in the second week must be a contender, and maybe two, or at most, three of the boys. But the rest come across like cannon fodder.

Send them to Chile I say. The San Jose Mine Rescue; now that's real project management. The San Jose Mine rescue included amongst other things;

Developing a strategy,
Developing a plan,
Relaying the strategy and the plan,
Including milestones,
Checking the plan in action,
Willing to adapt the plan if necessary,
Inspirational Leadership,
Testing the product,
Team building,
Multi-agency working,
Time keeping,
Press and public relations,
Having the right people to speak at the right time,
Delivering above expectations,
Sensitivity for a work life balance by including each family,
Allowing team members to express themselves,
Maintaining a corporate (national) identity,
Emphasising the importance of each team member,
Keeping people informed,
People working in role for the greater good of the developed strategy,
Maintaining focus on the plan and the strategy.


It ain't difficult, so why do so many of the Apprentices get it so wrong so often? Why do they place their personality above the role. Why on earth do they forget the fundamental reason of each task. Why do they try and distract one another when they are in the same team? It's not rocket science is it? If your team wins, then you do not risk appearing in the Boardroom. Get a grip and contribute to the team dynamics and the team success, as its success is also your success. The same thing applies away from the camera. If your team is a success then your organisation will thrive. Team members will want to work with you as you create and maintain a successful team environment, and that success will benefit their future advancement. It becomes win-win, that is until some smart arse comes along and sticks their oar in, so that they can try and get early advancement. But a strong team can deflect the 'users' and the 'losers' and maintain the momentum that a good leader brings. The funny thing is, I'm looking for a job at the moment, and I could do with £100,000 Sterling per annum. Are there any takers out there?

San Jose Mine

As I type this Blog entry, the 21st miner Yonni Barrios, has reached the surface at the San Jose Mine in the Republic of Chile. It has been an emotional journey, and one which many citizens of the World have had an interest in.

To be trapped buried alive must be the worst fear. I suspect that the early prognosis after the accident, was of little hope of any survivors. The mining engineers overcame all obstacles and managed to link up with the trapped workers.

The letter from the trapped was then announced. We then heard that there would be various rescue attempts, but none were certain to work. We were then told that they would be lucky to be rescued until Christmas. It is only mid October. What a fantastic 'Thanksgiving', and well done to all of those that 'Kept hope Alive'. A special well done to the President of Chile; Sebastian Pinera and to the President of Bolivia; Evo Morales and a very special 'well done' to all of those nameless workers and officials who toiled behind the scenes to make this a fantastic rescue of those that were not forgotten.

The journey began with the news of the trapped miners and the journey continues as each successful rescue takes place, each one as special as the one before and the one to follow. The story has the hallmarks of all good stories; tragedy, suspense, hope, and bravery.

The Eyes

This is a Master Class delivered by one of my daughter on how to draw eyes. The first image consists of three sketches. The left hand sketch shows the areas where light could fall in your final drawing. The areas where light will appear are show by some squiggly lines and three small circles. The central sketch has lines drawn from the centre of the eye in both sections and these lines will be smudged in the final image. The right hand sketch shows some extra shading along the periphery of the eye.


Where the light appears is important part of the drawing and the second image shows both the creation of light through darkening, shading, and erasing as well as the creation of an eye that is not a perfect circle.


The left hand sketch in the third image emphasises this point; the shape of eyes in artwork are random and not engineering drawings. The middle sketch shows how light and dark are created through shading and smudging the pencil. For these sketches the artist used a 5B pencil. The right hand sketch demonstrates that an eye drawing consists of three circles (akin to the RAF aircraft emblem), but the middle circle takes on a form similar to an egg shape.


All of the various components and techniques come together to form the finished drawing of an eye.

Texas, England, Germany, and Wales

England and Texas. The Blogging visits now include readers from Midland in the United States of America and Worcester in England. The majority of the visits come from England, but the USA also makes a fair contribution.

It is nice to see the locations where the Bloggers come from, start to spread. The Countries and the Cities list is now quite extensive. Maybe I can place a full update on-line in the weeks ahead, that show where readers have been located since I started the Blog some time ago.

Although I do have a lot on at present. "The Beast" is back from her extended journey across Europe (see previous blogging), the bathroom at our flat in the City is nearly finished with the new more powerful fan and the new bath shower screen due to be fitted this Thursday. My current artwork needs the finishing touches now that I have researched some sound images of the medals worn by the recipient. An ongoing piece of art involving a Hyundai i30 needs some more ink detail and then a watercolour wash.

The oil painting of the Range Rover needs a lot of work and that will be set aside for this winter. Another winter project is a 2' 6" by 2' n gauge railway that I am building. I have made the base board and designed the triple layer track layout, but now need to build the fixing boards at the various heights in order to lay the track. I also have several untouched models to build along with two significant commissions. My piece that was recently published in The Times has spurred me on to return to writing.

Along with all of this, I also read every day. Some of the reading builds on my Social and Economic Science Masters, while other bits are either general interest or military or bravery related. I often have between three and five books on the go at any one time. Only today, I finished two books that I have been reading for a while. One of these books was on the memoirs of a German Field Marshall, and the other was about recipients of the George Cross. I'm also reading a book about Welsh Battles, and am about to start a book on the Spanish Civil War. Along with an interest in Welsh History and Owain Glyndwr. The Spanish Civil War is something that I have not previously read about so it is a particular good 'look forward to'.

Wash & Go

First day back home and "The Beast" had a good wash after returning from Italy, well she needed one after being away for so long. It was then off for an MOT.

A glorious second day with our Indian summer and temperatures pushing 24 degrees meant that I cleaned the Volvo again. But this time I treated her to a coat of Nano Technology Turtle Wax polish. I was toying with buying the Halfords brand, but at the last moment I opted for Turtle Wax. A very good choice indeed, as the product has hidden two bad marks on the nearside that have been there for quite a few months. Marks, which I hasten to add, I have previously tried to cloak with several products. So I'm well chuffed with that decision and think of the purchase as £7.50 well spent.

We then had a run down to Carmarthen, well more of a glide actually. "The Beast" is running very well (touch wood) and the journey to Carmarthen, across to Blaenporth and the run home was a joy. Maybe the polish improved the aerodynamics, or maybe I'm just really pleased to see her back in the fold.

Wolves

Well I have to admit to be wrong. My Volvo S60 D5 SE AKA "the Beast" turned up last night courtesy of those lovely people at Wolves berging in the Netherlands. "Holland?" you say, "yes" I reply. The breakdown people arranged transport from Italy across to the Netherlands and then across to Britain and on to lovely Wales. The bottom line being that "the Beast" has seen more of Continental Europe than me.

It was quite weird seeing the yellow multi car transporter trundling into our village, but trundle it did. A multi deck beast of a thing that would have been totally unsuited for the various 'dead ends' on our estate. It was a good job then that I ventured out in the dark in my shorts and sandals (my Winter clothes are in the car [double note: why did I take my winter clothes to Italy :-(]). So the driver probably approached me thinking, "who is this strange Welshman dressed for the beach in the dead of Winter?". Anyway, my frantic waving got his attention and he pulled over to chat. 'The Italian' driver, turned out to be Dutch. Oops, my mistake. You know that your car is coming back from Italy, so I assumed it would be an Italian driver.

We parked up where it was save to turn, as turn he had to, as the road through the village goes on up into the mountains. A glass bit of driving from my new Dutch friend. One that I can appreciate as I have an HGV Class III licence. And those lorries were big enough let alone his multi deck car transporter. Anyhow, we treated him to a cup of tea (well it's tradition isn't it?), a packed lunch, and some non alcoholic drinks, as it was unlikely that he would find somewhere suitable to stop in this part of Wales, and at that time of night, and a bit of Sterling to help him on his way. Not much, but a nice way of saying a 'Big Thank You' for bringing my Volvo back to me.

Well done my friend, and if you are reading this, then please note that you are a credit to your company.

Gallantry Awards

This is my new artwork in progress. I have been working on this image for a while as I take a break from the car drawing. Well I have to, as my watercolour set and brushes are still in "The Beast" over in Italy, and both are needed to finish the 'car'. As for this image there is still an awful lot of work to go. I need to improve the detail on the face and eyes, add more colour, and blend the lot. As well as adding a lot more pen and ink detail to the uniform and cap.

The good news is that I feel that I am heading in the right direction with the artwork. The progress so far, should spur me on to complete separate images of a Victoria Cross winner, and a Medal of Honor winner.

The Beast

"The Beast" AKA my Volvo S60 D5 Special Edition is due back from Italy tomorrow. Although, based on past experience with the Breakdown Company, I shall believe it when I see it!

It's a Mile

My two afternoon swimming sessions over the weekend, totaled 72 lengths of the pool. Quite good for me, as 72 lengths of the 25 yard pool is a Mile. I was pretty chuffed with the effort on the second day as I had to swim through the psychological barrier, whereby I managed to swim the most number of lengths in one session for many months. Better still I got up at 0700 this morning and added another 40 lengths to the tally. I think that you will agree, that 112 lengths across three days is pretty good.

I was looking forward to doing quite a bit of swimming on holiday. If we hadn't become "Trapped in Firenze", then the next hotel had an outdoor pool and there would have been two sessions in that pool in the warmth of an Italian evening. Whereas, the pool at the villa we had booked, would have been used every morning. I missed the chance to swim while in Ghana, as we went to the outdoor pool on a day that I was feeling a tad poorly. I suppose this post is an indication that circumstances often interfere to prevent me swimming while abroad. As a Strategist; it also reminds me that no plan, however good, survives first engagement with the enemy.

And Here It Is

For those of you who missed my published review in the Thursday September 30 2010 Edition of The Times newspaper in the UK: here is a copy of the review published on page 33.

You, the Editor
Roger Bennett, a retired firefighter from Ceredigion on yesterday’s Times

The edition got off to a great start with an excellent image of Ed Milliband across the front cover, enhanced by the inset image of his older brother. This was photographic journalism at its best: complimentary images that tell their own story. The incisive nature of the Leading Article left the reader in little doubt as to the personal challenges facing the new Labour Leader.

Given the widespread coverage of the Raoul Moat manhunt, it was a pity that the Taser debacle was reduced to a few column inches.

MindGames scored a victory regarding the chess grandmaster Michael Adams’s despatch of world No1 Magnus Carlsen. The moves and text were well presented so that the reader could easily follow the game.

We couldn’t get away from the Milliband saga, but the slant taken in Opinion was well structured, with Daniel Finkelstein reminding us that “people reciprocate favours”. People also like clothes, and with the recession still biting, it was good to be told about the lack of restraint on Milan’s catwalks. The 7.5cm “heels” race in World brought the feelgood factor, but it would have benefited from an image.

The Register delivered with the Obituary of Jimi Heselden, both in content and photograph. The “Brutal Memories” and the “Rorke’s Drift” letters complimented one another nicely.

What did we get wrong? What did we get right? Send your 250-word review of today's paper by 3pm to...

Still No More Moaning

The bathroom at our investment property is coming along nicely (Blog Posts of the 15 and 16 September 2010 apply). The new false panel and two of the other walls have been tiled and grouted floor to ceiling. The bath, sink, and all taps are in. The 'Twist n Lock' fittings have been provided above the bath and sink. The other walls have been painted with Dulux bathroom paint colour 'Frosted Steel' (photograph).

Joey (also shown in the photograph) is 26 years old and was left in place to greet his owner as she came home and opened the door to see the new NEXT towel bundle holder, NEXT double towel rail, and NEXT toilet roll holder. In my opinion the NEXT fittings are superior to the Twist n Lock ones. But the Twist n Lock fittings carry an advantage of easy fitting (when they work). Whereas the NEXT fittings conceal the screws, but in doing so also conceal the drilling points. I found that the paper templates that were supplied, to be slightly inaccurate, and NEXT time I will do some mathematics to ensure pinpoint accuracy.

My Facebook account has a bathroom photo album with some 30 photographs of the refurbishment. We now have to fit the stainless steel and glass door bathroom cabinet, the fixed and hinged panel shower screen, a new and more powerful extractor fan, and new flooring. It's been an expensive project, but one that pays dividends while we and the family make use of the property and should enhance the financial return when we eventually start letting it out at full value in a few years time.

Visitors

The cities where recent visitors to the Blog reside are:

Accra, Ghana
Moscow, Russia
Sofia, Bulgaria
Pelotas, Brazil
London, England
Edgbaston, England
Birmingham, England
Solihull, England
Cardiff, Wales
Islington, USA
Brooklyn, USA
San Francisco, USA


Now that is quite a few places that I would love to visit, so welcome to one and all! I've managed, Cardiff, London, Birmingham and Accra. Four out of eleven is not too bad, but I can well imagine how much I would enjoy visiting (in no particular order) Russia, Brazil, Bulgaria, and the United States of America. I wrote to the President the other day, but he didn't reply. So I suppose that the trip I was hoping for, is on the back burner for a while.

But hey Mr President, if you do read this and you want a qualified Strategist to pop over The Pond and become one of your temporary advisers for a while then please drop me a line.

The Big News

It's the 1st October 2010 and the Very Big News is that I managed to have an article published in The Times Newspaper yesterday. For my Ghanaian friends, that's the London Times.

I'm well chuffed as it was 250 words whereby I reviewed the previous days edition of The Times. The review was of Tuesday's edition with it's significant coverage of amongst other matters; the Milliband saga. My submission wasn't published in any old 'Times', mind you; but the Ryder Cup Special edition. With its free 16-page Ryder Cup special pullout. A double whammy, and second only, to having something published in 'the Pope' edition. I suspect that circulation figures were well up. Not because I had an article inside, but because of the Ryder Cup.

But then again, I can confidently say that my small contribution did raise the circulation figures as my wife, brother, sister, and several good friends all bought a copy. To make matters really good, I bumped into Adam and his lovely lady Nia in the evening, and we had a few jars before wifey and I snuck off for a sneaky Indian. Pure bliss, the chit-chat, the beer, and the food.

Brilliant, simply brilliant, and as I have already mentioned - I'm well chuffed.